Less than 3 Days Left!

Oh My Gosh NO! PAIN- Stomach PAIN.  I spent my day Friday being very careful and very cautious about my activities and my diet.  I  went to work as usual and had planned an evening with my husband watching a favorite show or two, staying hydrated, and eating a very innocuous simple meal.  The problem- I never ate dinner.

Fort Worth Tropical 10 Miler

During lunch we had food catered in today.  I ate 1/2 tomato and provalone sandwich with pasta salad, apples, grapes, and 2 cookies.  I felt a little bit odd a couple hours after lunch, but I figured it was because I ate 2 cookies instead of 1 or none.  By the time I got home, my stomach hurt so badly that I thought I needed to take an antacid.  Needless to say.... It did not work.  I even decided that my 3 Days to go Blog would not get written because I could not sit up. I went to bed at 8:30 and well, here I am 4 hours later writing the blog.  Thus, PAIN is still in the works.

Now you may think this is the flu. But I am not convinced it is.  The reason?  I just got over the flu.  I spent 3 days in bed just less than 2 weeks ago.  One of our other coaches Clay joked, " Well now you have a forced taper."  He was right, I was really afforded the blessing of just being off my feet with no other worries but sleeping.  But now... oh Dear!. Now is a different story.

The only thing running through my mind? "God, you are going to have to pull off a miracle, because there is no way I will be running Sunday let alone standing on Sunday if this pain isn't gone." So my prayer is. " Lord you have brought me this far, please get me to the finish line"  There is definitely a lesson in this.  My husband was pretty worried last night.  He patted my hand and told me not to worry.  He said, "Everything happens for a reason." Isn't that the truth.  In any case- God is faithful.  I still have 30  hours until the start!.  So if you are reading this, please say a prayer that whatever happens, it is where God wants me at that moment in time.

With that, let's enjoy Joyce's story.  It is so much more interesting.

Part 5 Twenty-six Things I learned Running a Marathon By Joyce Wyrostek

Lesson number 14 – When the end is in sight it doesn’t mean you’re done.  Well you may be done but you are not finished.  On this beautiful course, somewhere between miles twenty and twenty six I could see the balloons, hear the band and the announcer (sound carries far over water), and I knew the end was near.  When I looked up I saw the mile marker; my heart sunk, at the pace I was going I still had about an hour to go before the band would play for me.

Since I had made up my mind to finish, I tried to pick up my pace a little because I wanted to finish before all the officials left so I could lodge an informal complaint and see if I could convince them to either redirect the flow or cover the view of the finish line so far out.  It makes the last few miles feel much farther than they actually are.

When we focus on the finish without concentrating on the present it is very easy to get complacent and coast, if we can.  The years between retirement and the end of life can be like that if we are not careful.  The years past swiftly but the days will seem long if we are not giving every day our very best effort.

Lesson number 15 – Don’t listen to the hearsay that floats through the air.  Ever notice how non-participants have all the answers and often they convey the wrong information.  I was in my own world of thought when I heard a bystander shout to a runner.  He said, “If you don’t pick up the pace you won’t get counted as a finisher.  They are cutting it off at six hours.” 

Now my mind was flying in a different direction, now way would I get this done in six hours. Did that mean that the only one who knew I finished would be me (and God of course).  I questioned myself, would that matter?  Well YES it would matter, at this point I didn’t care how long it took me, I’d come too far to not even be counted as a finisher.  If this wasn’t going to count anyway they could just pick me up and deliver me to my ride home.

"Determined" Grandma's Marathon- Duluth  

The no longer racers, but walkers were discussing the disturbing news speculating that if they were going to shut off the clock and close the race they would surely pick up the remaining participants. There were still hundreds of runners ahead of me. I turned my head to get a glance behind me there were just as many runners trailing me, far too many for them to pick up. I really didn’t want to keep running if it was going to count for nothing.

The rumor mill is generally filled with negative thoughts and comments.  I have heard that your life doesn’t really count for anything once you’ve finished your productive years, unless you know how to knit.  What a lie, no one ever loses their impact on changing the world if they keep engaged and up to date with the changes taking place all around us. 

Lesson number 16 – Don’t let distractions hinder your progress.  Prior to that moment I had picked up my walking pace just so I could get done sooner.  The left side of my brain began to tell me slow down and take it easy if they aren’t going to count this any way you can sit down and wait for the shuttle.  My right brain said, “Get moving faster and see if you can make the six hour mark.”

“What?”  My body responded, “Haven’t I been punished enough, just stop this silly nonsense and lay me down.”

“No way,” right brain replied, “You can rest all day tomorrow and the next day if need be…today you have a race to complete.”

OK so things get a little strange after five and a half hours moving but making slow forward progress.

The older we get the more of these conversations we have in our minds.  Our mental capacity doesn’t slow down nearly as quickly as the body.  We have to actually talk to ourselves with encouragement to get up and exercise.  No one else is going to get you there…they usually tell you at your age you need to slow down, rest more and treat your body carefully, after all you are old. You don’t have to listen to anyone but yourself and I keep telling myself I am only as old as I feel…until I look in the mirror.  I try not to engage in any long episodes in front of that lying glass.

Lesson 17 – Those who meet your needs along the way may surprise you.  The water stations were closing down and I was so thirsty, or maybe I was hungry.  I had forgotten to put a power bar in my pocket and I wasn’t sure about the gel packs they had offered along the route so I had passed them up.  Without water I wouldn’t have wanted that kind of nourishment anyway. 

Just when I was about to throw myself a real pity party a little girl maybe six or seven appeared out of nowhere. She held out a whole bottle of water, I quickly scanned the area thinking maybe some adult was going to take it from her and pour some of it in one of those inadequate little cups that cause you to wear half the contents.  She said in a sweet voice, “Are you thirsty?”

I answered, “You bet I am sweetie, thank you so much,” I took the bottle and added, “Are you an angel?”

She stepped shyly back and as I continued on my journey I heard her excitedly tell the female adult beside her, probably her mother. “She called me an angel!” We made each other’s day.

Lesson 18 – The body does strange things in response to its senses.  The course was now taking us down the streets of Duluth.  Over half of the runners had finished the race and were settled into a tasty meal in one of the quaint water front restaurants.  The smells filled the air and my stomach began to remind me that it had been six hours since our last meal with a loud growl. “Quiet” I shouted, “You are not hungry.”

 I had learned that if you speak out loud to yourself you can even control the hunger urge.   The volume of my ipod caused me to speak a lot louder than I thought.  A generous bystander stepped out and offered me a hot dog (he was holding three of them).  My mind shouted out, “Are you serious dude? Even on a good day I wouldn’t feed this fine-tuned body one of those delicious fat ridden delicacies.  I ignored my mind and smiled politely as I said, “No thank you”.  My stomach rebelled with another growl.

Resisting temptation for things that are not good for our bodies is a discipline that should be practiced all through life.  When you are resolved to such life choices there are thousands of triggers aimed and ready to fire getting you to abort your determination.  Smell is a big one, but the memory of taste will make your mouth water just thinking about the Hot Fudge Sunday with real whipped cream, nuts and a cherry on top.  Excuse me while I wipe my chin.

Stay tuned.  Whether I run on Sunday or not. We will finish Joyce's Journey together :)